As the variety of available computing devices increases, as well as the variety of tasks for which these devices are used, there comes a need to adapt the ways in which users interface with these devices. In many instances, it is desirable to recognize or validate the identity of a person to a computing device, for purposes such as security or personalization. Certain devices include video cameras that can be used to capture image information. Analyzing video information can be very processor and power intensive, such that it can be desirable instead to analyze only certain portions of the captured video. In many instances, however, the user will not be looking directly at the camera or there will be motion blur, such as may result from movement of the user or the computing device (e.g., a tablet computer or smart phone). The selection of random video frames thus can lead to additional capture and analysis until a suitable frame is selected, which can result in unnecessary delay and resource utilization, among other issues.